the cake is a lie

English dictionary entry

Meanings

phrase
  1. The end being pursued is unattainable or misguided; the reward promised is false.

Pronunciation

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-the cake is a lie.wav

Word forms

the cake is a lie

Etymology

From the video game Portal (2007), in which a self-aware computer, GLaDOS, lures the player into participating in dangerous experiments with the promise of a cake. As the game progresses, the player discovers graffiti left by the only previous test subject to survive GLaDOS' murderous scheme, including the warning the cake is a lie.

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.